But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
KJV
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
Commentary
Commentary
We read, with a great deal of pleasure, in the close of the foregoing
chapter, concerning the repentance of Nineveh; but in this chapter we
read, with a great deal of uneasiness, concerning the sin of Jonah;
and, as there is joy in heaven and earth for the conversion of sinners,
so there is grief for the follies and infirmities of saints. In all the
book of God we scarcely find a "servant of the Lord" (and such a one we
are sure Jonah was, for the scripture calls him so) so very much out of
temper as he is here, so very peevish and provoking to God himself. In
the first chapter we had him fleeing from the face of God; but here we
have him, in effect, flying in the face of God; and, which is more
grieving to us, there we had an account of his repentance and return to
God; but here, though no doubt he did repent, yet, as in Solomon's
case, no account is left us of his recovering himself; but, while we
read with wonder of his perverseness, we read with no less wonder of
God's tenderness towards him, by which it appeared that he had not cast
him off. Here is,
I. Jonah's repining at God's mercy to Nineveh, and the fret he was in
about it, ver. 1-3 .
II. The gentle reproof God gave him for it, ver. 4 .
III. Jonah's discontent at the withering of the gourd, and his
justifying himself in that discontent, ver. 5-9 .
IV. God's improving it for his conviction, that he ought not to be
angry at the sparing of Nineveh, ver. 10-11 .
Man's badness and God's goodness serve here for a foil to each other,
that the former may appear the more exceedingly sinful and the latter
the more exceedingly gracious.
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
2 And he prayed unto the L ORD , and said, I pray thee, O L ORD , was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore
I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a
gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness,
and repentest thee of the evil.
3 Therefore now, O L ORD , take, I beseech thee, my life from me;
for it is better for me to die than to live.
4 Then said the L ORD , Doest thou well to be angry?
See here,
I. How unjustly Jonah quarrelled with God for his mercy to Nineveh,
upon their repentance. This gives us occasion to suspect that Jonah had
only delivered the message of wrath against the Ninevites, and had not
at all assisted or encouraged them in their repentance, as one would
think he should have done; for when they did repent, and found
mercy,
1. Jonah grudged them the mercy they found
( v. 1 ): It displeased Jonah exceedingly; and (would you think it?) he
was very angry, was in a great heat about it. It was very wrong,
(1.) That he had so little government of himself as to be displeased
and very angry; he had no rule over his own spirit, and
therefore, as a city broken down, lay exposed to temptations and
snares.
(2.) That he had so little reverence of God as to be displeased and
angry at what he did, as David was when the Lord had made a breach upon
Uzza; whatever pleases God should please us, and, though we cannot
account for it, yet we must acquiesce in it.
(3.) That he had so little affection for men as to be displeased and
very angry at the conversion of the Ninevites and their reception into
the divine favour. This was the sin of the scribes and Pharisees, who
murmured at our Saviour because he entertained publicans and sinners;
but is our eye evil because his is good? But why was Jonah so
uneasy at it, that the Ninevites repented and were spared? It cannot be
expected that we should give any good reason for a thing so very absurd
and unreasonable; no, nor any thing that has the face or colour of a
reason; but we may conjecture what the provocation was. Hot spirits are
usually high spirits. Only by pride comes contention both with
God and man. It was a point of honour that Jonah stood upon and that
made him angry.
[1.] He was jealous for the honour of his country; the repentance and
reformation of Nineveh shamed the obstinacy of Israel that repented
not, but hated to be reformed; and the favour God had shown to
these Gentiles, upon their repentance, was an ill omen to the Jewish
nation, as if they should be (as at length they were) rejected and cast
out of the church and the Gentiles substituted in their room. When it
was intimated to St. Peter himself that he should make no difference
between Jews and Gentiles he startled at the thing, and said, Not
so, Lord; no marvel then that Jonah looked upon it with regret that
Nineveh should become a favourite. Jonah herein had a zeal for
God as the God of Israel in a particular manner, but not
according to knowledge. Note, Many are displeased with God under
pretence of concern for his glory.
[2.] He was jealous for his own honour, fearing lest, if Nineveh was
not destroyed within forty days, he should be accounted a false
prophet, and stigmatized accordingly; whereas he needed not be under
any discontent about that, for in the threatening of ruin it was
implied that, for the preventing of it, they should repent, and, if
they did, it should be prevented. And no one will complain of being
deceived by him that is better than his word; and he would rather gain
honour among them, by being instrumental to save them, than fall under
any disgrace. But melancholy men (and such a one Jonah seems to have
been) are apt to make themselves uneasy by fancying evils to themselves
that are not, nor are ever likely to be. Most of our frets, as well as
our frights, are owing to the power of imagination; and those are to be
pitied as perfect bond-slaves that are under the power of such a
tyrant.
2. He quarreled with God about it. When his heart was hot within him,
he spoke unadvisedly with his lips; and here he tells us what he
said
( v. 2, 3 ):
He prayed unto the Lord, but it is a very awkward prayer, not
like that which he prayed in the fish's belly; for affliction teaches
us to pray submissively, which Jonah now forgot to do. Being in
discontent, he applied to the duty of prayer, as he used to do in his
troubles, but his corruptions got head of his graces, and, when he
should have been praying for benefit by the mercy of God himself, he
was complaining of the benefit others had by that mercy. Nothing could
be spoken more unbecomingly.
(1.) He now begins to justify himself in fleeing from the presence
of the Lord, when he was first ordered to go to Nineveh, for which
he had before, with good reason, condemned himself: " Lord, " said
he, " was not this my saying when I was in my own country? Did I
not foresee that if I went to preach to Nineveh they would repent, and
thou wouldst forgive them, and then thy word would be reflected upon
and reproached as yea and nay?" What a strange sort of man was Jonah,
to dread the success of his ministry! Many have been tempted to
withdraw from their work because they had despaired of doing good by
it, but Jonah declined preaching because he was afraid of doing good by
it; and still he persists in the same corrupt notion, for, it seems,
the whale's belly itself could not cure him of it. It was his saying
when he was in his own country, but it was a bad saying; yet
here he stands to it, and, very unlike the other prophets, desires
the woeful day which he had foretold and grieves because it does
not come. Even Christ's disciples know not what manner of spirit
they are of; those did not who wished for fire from heaven upon the
city that did not receive them, much less did Jonah, who wished for
fire from heaven upon the city that did receive him, Luke ix. 55 .
Jonah thinks he has reason to complain of that, when it is done, which
he was before afraid of; so hard is it to get a root of bitterness
plucked out of the mind, when once it is fastened there. And why did
Jonah expect that God would spare Nineveh? Because I knew that thou
was a gracious God, indulgent and easily pleased, that thou wast
slow to anger and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the
evil. All this is very true; and Jonah could not but know it by
God's proclamation of his name and the experiences of all ages; but it
is strange and very unaccountable that that which all the saints had
made the matter of their joy and praise Jonah should make the matter of
reflection upon God, as if that were an imperfection of the divine
nature which is indeed the greatest glory of it--that God is
gracious and merciful. The servant that said, I knew thee to be
a hard man, said that which was false, and yet, had it been true,
it was not the proper matter of a complaint; but Jonah, though he says
what is true, yet, speaking it by way of reproach, speaks very
absurdly. Those have a spirit of contention and contradiction indeed
that can find in their hearts to quarrel with the goodness of God, and
his sparing pardoning mercy, to which we all owe it that we are out of
hell. This is making that to be to us a savour of death unto
death which ought to be a savour of life unto life. (2.) In a passion, he wishes for death
( v. 3 ),
a strange expression of his causeless passion! " Now, O Lord! take,
I beseech thee, my life from me. If Nineveh must live, let me die,
rather than see thy word and mine disproved, rather than see the glory
of Israel transferred to the Gentiles," as if there were not grace
enough in God both for Jews and Gentiles, or as if his countrymen were
the further off from mercy for the Ninevites being taken into favour.
When the prophet Elijah had laboured in vain, he wished he might die,
and it was his infirmity, 1 Kings xix. 4 .
But Jonah labours to good purpose, saves a great city from ruin, and
yet wishes he may die, as if, having done much good, he were afraid of
living to do more; he sees of the travail of his soul, and is
dissatisfied. What a perverse spirit is mingled with every word he
says! When Jonah was brought alive out of the whale's belly, he thought
life a very valuable mercy, and was thankful to that God who brought up his life from corruption, ( ch. ii. 6 ),
and a great blessing his life had been to Nineveh; yet now, for that
very reason, it became a burden to himself and he begs to be eased of
it, pleading, It is better for me to die than to live. Such a
word as this may be the language of grace, as it was in Paul, who
desired to depart and be with Christ, which is far better; but
here it was the language of folly, and passion, and strong corruption;
and so much the worse,
[1.] Jonah being now in the midst of his usefulness, and therefore fit
to live. He was one whose ministry God wonderfully owned and prospered.
The conversion of Nineveh might give him hopes of being instrumental to
convert the whole kingdom of Assyria; it was therefore very absurd for
him to wish he might die when he had a prospect of living to so good a
purpose and could be so ill spared.
[2.] Jonah being now so much out of temper and therefore unfit to die.
How durst he think of dying, and going to appear before God's
judgment-seat, when he was actually quarrelling with him? Was this a
frame of spirit proper for a man to go out of the world in? But those
who passionately desire death commonly have least reason to do it, as
being very much unprepared for it. Our business is to get ready to die
by doing the work of life, and then to refer ourselves to God to take
away our life when and how he pleases.
II. See how justly God reproved Jonah for this heat that he was in
( v. 4 ):
The Lord said, Doest thou well to be angry? Is doing well a
displeasure to thee? so some read it. What! dost thou repent of thy
good deeds? God might justly have rejected him for this impious heat
which he was in, might justly have taken him at his word, and have
struck him dead when he wished to die; but he vouchsafes to reason with
him for his conviction and to bring him to a better temper, as the
father of the prodigal reasoned with his elder son, when, as Jonah
here, he murmured at the remission and reception of his brother. Doest thou well to be angry? See how mildly the great God speaks
to this foolish man, to teach us to restore those that have fallen with
a spirit of meekness, and with soft answers to turn
away wrath. God appeals to himself and to his own conscience:
" Doest thou well? Thou knowest thou does not." We should often
put this question to ourselves, Is it well to say thus, to do thus? Can
I justify it? Must I not unsay it and undo it again by repentance, or
be undone forever? Ask,
1. Do I well to be angry? When passion is up, let it meet with this
check, "Do I well to be so soon angry, so often angry, so long angry,
to put myself into such a heat, and to give others such ill language in
my anger? Is this well, that I suffer these headstrong passions to get
dominion over me?"
2. "Do I well to be angry at the mercy of God to repenting sinners?"
That was Jonah's crime. Do we do well to be angry at that which is so
much for the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom among
men--to be angry at that which angels rejoice in and for which abundant
thanksgivings will be rendered to God? We do ill to be angry at that
grace which we ourselves need and are undone without; if room were not
left for repentance, and hope given of pardon upon repentance, what
would become of us? Let the conversion of sinners, which is the joy of
heaven, be our joy, and never our grief.
5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of
the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the
shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
6 And the L ORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up
over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver
him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day,
and it smote the gourd that it withered.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God
prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of
Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the
gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
10 Then said the L ORD , Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the
which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came
up in a night, and perished in a night:
11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are
more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between
their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
Jonah persists here in his discontent; for the beginning of
strife both with God and man is as the letting forth of
waters, the breach grows wider and wider, and, when passion gets
head, bad is made worse; it should therefore be silenced and suppressed
at first. We have here,
I. Jonah's sullen expectation of the fate of Nineveh. We may suppose
that the Ninevites, giving credit to the message he brought, were ready
to give entertainment to the messenger that brought it, and to show him
respect, that they would have made him welcome to the best of their
houses and tables. But Jonah was out of humour, would not accept their
kindness, nor behave towards them with common civility, which one might
have feared would have prejudiced them against him and his word; but
when there is not only the treasure put into earthen
vessels, but the trust lodged with men subject to like passions
as we are, and yet the point gained, it must be owned that the excellency of the power appears so much the more to be of God and not of man. Jonah retires, goes out of the city, sits
alone, and keeps silence, because he sees the Ninevites repent and
reform, v. 5 .
Perhaps he told those about him that he went out of the city for fear
of perishing in the ruins of it; but he went to see what would
become of the city, as Abraham went up to see what would become of
Sodom, Gen. xix. 27 .
The forty days were now expiring, or had expired, and Jonah hoped that,
if Nineveh was not overthrown, yet some judgement or other would come
upon it, sufficient to save his credit; however, it was with great
uneasiness that he waited the issue. He would not sojourn in a house,
expecting it would fall upon his head, but he made himself a
booth of the boughs of trees, and sat in that, though there he
would lie exposed to wind and weather. Note, It is common for those
that have fretful uneasy spirits industriously to create inconveniences
themselves, that, resolving to complain, they may still have something
to complain of.
II. God's gracious provision for his shelter and refreshment when he
thus foolishly afflicted himself and was still adding yet more and more
to his own affliction, v. 6 .
Jonah was sitting in his booth, fretting at the cold of the night and
the heat of the day, which were both grievous to him, and God might
have said, It is his own choice, his own doing, a house of his own
building, let him make the best of it; but he looked on him with
compassion, as the tender mother does on the froward child, and
relieved him against the grievances which he by his own wilfulness
created to himself. He prepared a gourd, a plant with broad
leaves, and full of them, that suddenly grew up, and covered his hut or
booth, so as to keep off much of the injury of the cold and heat. It
was a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief, that,
being refreshed in body, he might the better guard against the
uneasiness of his mind, which outward crosses and troubles are often
the occasion and increase of. See how tender God is of his people in
their afflictions, yea, though they are foolish and froward, nor is he extreme to mark what they do amiss. God had before prepared a
great fish to secure Jonah from the injuries of the water, and here
a great gourd to secure him from the injuries of the air; for he is the
protector of his people against evils of every kind, has the command of
plants as well as animals, and can soon prepare them, to make them
serve his purposes, can make their growth sudden, which, in a course of
nature, is slow and gradual. A gourd, one would think, was but a
slender fortification at the best, yet Jonah was exceedingly glad of
the gourd; for,
1. It was really at that time a great comfort to him. A thing in itself
small and inconsiderable, yet, coming seasonably, may be to us a very
valuable blessing. A gourd in the right place may do us more service
than a cedar. The least creatures may be great plagues (as flies and
lice were to Pharaoh) or great comforts (as the gourd to Jonah),
according as God is pleased to make them.
2. He being now much under the power of imagination took a greater
complacency in it than there was cause for. He was exceedingly glad of
it, was proud of it, and triumphed in it. Note, Persons of strong
passions, as they are apt to be cast down with a trifle that crosses
them, so they are apt to be lifted up with a trifle that pleases them.
A small toy will serve sometimes to pacify a cross child, as the gourd
did Jonah. But wisdom and grace would teach us both to weep for
our troubles as though we wept not, and to rejoice in our
comforts as though we rejoiced not. Creature-comforts we ought
to enjoy and be thankful for, but we need not be exceedingly glad of
them; it is God only that must be our exceeding joy, Ps. xliii. 4 .
III. The sudden loss of this provision which God had made for his
refreshment, and the return of his trouble, v. 7, 8 .
God that had provided comfort for him provided also an affliction for
him in that very thing which was his comfort; the affliction did not
come by chance, but by divine direction and appointment.
1. God prepared a worm to destroy the gourd. He that gave took
away, and Jonah ought to have blessed his name in both; but
because, when he took the comfort of the gourd, he did not give God the
praise of it, God deprived him of the benefit of it, and justly. See
what all our creature-comforts are, and what we may expect them to be;
they are gourds, have their root in the earth, are but a thin and
slender defence compared with the rock of ages; they are
withering things; they perish in the using, and we are soon deprived of
the comfort of them. The gourd withered the next day after it sprang
up; our comforts come forth like flowers and are soon cut down. When we please ourselves most with them, and promise ourselves most
from them, we are disappointed. A little thing withers them; a small
worm at the root destroys a large gourd. Something unseen and
undiscerned does it. Our gourds wither, and we know not what to
attribute it to. And perhaps those wither first that we have been more
exceedingly glad of; that proves least safe that is most dear. God did
not send an angel to pluck up Jonah's gourd, but sent a worm to smite
it; there it grew still, but it stood him in no stead. Perhaps our
creature-comforts are continued to us, but they are embittered; the
creature is continued, but the comfort is gone; and the remains, or
ruins of it rather, do but upbraid us with our folly in being
exceedingly glad of it.
2. He prepared a wind to make Jonah feel the want of the gourd, v. 8 .
It was a vehement east wind, which drove the heat of the rising
sun violently upon the head of Jonah. This wind was not as a fan to
abate the heat, but as bellows to make it more intense. Thus poor Jonah
lay open to sun and wind.
IV. The further fret that this put Jonah into
( v. 8 ):
He fainted, and wished in himself that he might die. "If the
gourd be killed, if the gourd be dead, kill me too, let me die with
the gourd. " Foolish man, that thinks his life bound up in the life
of a weed! Note, It is just that those who love to complain should
never be left without something to complain of, that their folly may be
manifested and corrected, and, if possible, cured. And see here how the
passions that run into an extreme one way commonly run into an extreme
the other way. Jonah, who was in transports of joy when the gourd
flourished, is in pangs of grief when the gourd has withered.
Inordinate affection lays a foundation for inordinate affliction; what
we are over-fond of when we have it we are apt to over-grieve for when
we lose it, and we may see our folly in both.
V. The rebuke God gave him for this; he again reasoned with him: Dost thou well to be angry for the gourd? v. 9 .
Note, The withering of a gourd is a thing which it does not become us
to be angry at. When afflicting providences deprive us of our
relations, possessions, and enjoyments, we must bear it patiently, must
not be angry at God, must not be angry for the gourd. It is
comparatively but a small loss, the loss of a shadow; that is the most
we can make of it. It was a gourd, a withering thing; we could expect
no other than that it should wither. Our being angry for the withering
of it will not recover it; we ourselves shall shortly wither like it.
If one gourd be withered, another gourd may spring up in the room of
it; but that which should especially silence our discontent is that
though our gourd be gone our God is not gone, and there is enough in
him to make up all our losses.
Let us therefore own that we do ill, that we do very ill, to be angry
for the gourd; and let us under such events quiet ourselves as a
child that is weaned from his mother.
VI. His justification of his passion and discontent; and it is very
strange, v. 9 .
He said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. It is bad to
speak amiss, yet if it be in haste, if what is said amiss be speedily
recalled and unsaid again, it is the more excusable; but to speak amiss
and stand to it is bad indeed. So Jonah did here, though God himself
rebuked him, and by appealing to his conscience expected he would
rebuke himself. See what brutish things ungoverned passions are, and
how much it is our interest, and ought to be our endeavour, to chain up
these roaring lions and ranging bears. Sin and death are
two very dreadful things, yet Jonah, in his heat, makes light of them
both.
1. He has so little regard for God as to fly in the face of his
authority, and to say that he did well in that which God said was ill
done. Passion often over-rules conscience, and forces it, when it is
appealed to, to give a false judgment, as Jonah here did.
2. He has so little regard to himself as to abandon his own life, and
to think it no harm to indulge his passion even to death, to kill
himself with fretting. We read of wrath that kills the
foolish man, and envy that slays the silly one ( Job v. 2 ),
and foolish silly ones indeed those are that cut their own throats with
their own passions, that fret themselves into consumptions and other
weaknesses, and put themselves into fevers with their own intemperate
heats.
VII. The improvement of it against him for his conviction that he did
ill to murmur at the sparing of Nineveh. Out of his own mouth God will
judge him; and we have reason to think it overcame him; for he made no
reply, but, we hope, returned to his right mind and recovered his
temper, though he could not keep it, and all was well. Now,
1. Let us see how God argued with him
( v. 10, 11 ):
" Thou hast had pity on the gourd, hast spared it" (so the
word is), "didst what thou couldst, and wouldst have done more, to keep
it alive, and saidst, What a pity it is that this gourd should
ever wither! and should not I then spare Nineveh? Should not I
have as much compassion upon that as thou hadst upon the gourd, and
forbid the earthquake which would ruin that, as thou wouldst have
forbidden the worm that smote the gourd? Consider,"
(1.) "The gourd thou hadst pity on was but one; but the inhabitants of
Nineveh, whom I have pity on, are numerous." It is a great city and
very populous, as appears by the number of the infants, suppose from
two years old and under; there are 120,000 such in Nineveh, that have
not come to so much use of understanding as to know their right hand
from their left, for they are yet but babes. These are taken notice
of because the age of infants is commonly looked upon as the age of
innocence. So many there were in Nineveh that had not been guilty of
any actual transgression, and consequently had not themselves
contributed to the common guilt, and yet, if Nineveh had been
overthrown, they would all have been involved in the common calamity;
"and shall not I spare Nineveh then, with an eye to them?" God
has a tender regard to little children, and is ready to pity and
succour them, nay, here a whole city is spared for their sakes, which
may encourage parents to present their children to God by faith and
prayer, that though they are not capable of doing him any service (for
they cannot discern between their right hand and their left, between good and evil, sin and duty), yet they are capable of
participating in his favours and of obtaining salvation. The great
Saviour discovered a particular kindness for the children that were
brought to him, when he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon
them, and blessed them. Nay, God took notice of the abundance of
cattle too that were in Nineveh, which he had more reason to pity and
spare than Jonah had to pity and to spare the gourd, inasmuch as the
animal life is more excellent than the vegetable.
(2.) The gourd which Jonah was concerned for was none of his own; it
was that for which he did not labour and which he made not to grow; but
the persons in Nineveh whom God had compassion on were all the work
of his own hands, whose being he was the author of, whose lives he
was the preserver of, whom he planted and made to grow; he made them,
and his they were, and therefore he had much more reason to have
compassion on them, for he cannot despise the work of his own
hands ( Job x. 3 );
and thus Job there argues with him
( v. 8, 9 ), Thy hands have made me, and fashioned me, have made me as the
clay; and wilt thou destroy me, wilt thou bring me into
dust again? And thus he here argues with himself.
(3.) The gourd which Jonah had pity on was of a sudden growth, and
therefore of less value; it came up in a night, it was the son of a
night (so the word is); but Nineveh is an ancient city, of many
ages standing, and therefore cannot be so easily given up; "the persons
I spare have been many years in growing up, not so soon reared as the
gourd; and shall not I then have pity on those that have been so many
years the care of my providence, so many years my tenants?"
(4.) The gourd which Jonah had pity on perished in a night; it
withered, and there was an end of it. But the precious souls in
Nineveh that God had pity on are not so short-lived; they are immortal,
and therefore to be carefully and tenderly considered. One soul is of
more value than the whole world, and the gain of the world will not
countervail the loss of it; surely then one soul is of more value than
many gourds, of more value than many sparrows; so God accounts, and so
should we, and therefore have a greater concern for the children of men
than for any of the inferior creatures, and for our own and others'
precious souls than for any of the riches and enjoyments of this
world.
2. From all this we may learn,
(1.) That though God may suffer his people to fall into sin, yet he
will not suffer them to lie still in it, but will take a course
effectually to show them their error, and to bring them to themselves
and to their right mind again. We have reason to hope that Jonah, after
this, was well reconciled to the sparing of Nineveh, and was as well
pleased with it as ever he had been displeased.
(2.) That God will justify himself in the methods of his grace towards
repenting returning sinners as well as in the course his justice takes
with those that persist in their rebellion; though there be those that
murmur at the mercy of God, because they do not understand it (for his
thoughts and ways therein are as far above ours as heaven above the
earth), yet he will make it evident that therein he acts like himself,
and will be justified when he speaks. See what pains he takes
with Jonah to convince him that it is very fit that Nineveh should be
spared. Jonah had said, I do well to be angry, but he could not
prove it. God says and proves it, I do well to be merciful; and
it is a great encouragement to poor sinners to hope that they shall
find mercy with him, that he is so ready to justify himself in showing
mercy and to triumph in those whom he makes the monuments of it,
against those whose eye is evil because his is good. Such murmurers
shall be made to understand this doctrine, that, how narrow soever
their souls, their principles, are, and how willing soever they are to
engross divine grace to themselves and those of their own way, there is
one Lord over all, that is rich in mercy to all that call upon
him, and in every nation, in Nineveh as well as in Israel, he that fears God and works righteousness is accepted of him; he
that repents, and turns from his evil way, shall find mercy with
him.
INTRODUCTION TO JONAH 4
This chapter gives us an account of Jonah's displeasure at the repentance of the Ninevites, and at the Lord's showing mercy unto them, Jon 4:1; the angry prayer of Jonah upon it, Jon 4:2; the Lord's gentle reproof of him for it, Jon 4:4; his conduct upon that, Jon 4:5; the gourd prepared for him; its rise, usefulness, and destruction, which raised different passions in Jonah, Jon 4:6; the improvement the Lord made of this to rebuke Jonah, for his displicency at the mercy he showed to the Ninevites, and to convict him of his folly, Jon 4:9.
Ver. 1. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. Jonah was "mirabilis homo", as one calls him, an "amazing man"; the strangest, oddest, and most out of the way man, for a good man and a prophet, as one shall ever hear or read of. Displeased he was at that, which one would have thought he would have exceedingly rejoiced at, the success of his ministry, as all good men, prophets, and ministers of the word, do; nothing grieves them more than the hardness of men's hearts, and the failure of their labours; and nothing more rejoices them than the conversion of sinners by them; but Jonah is displeased at the repentance of the Ninevites through his preaching, and at the mercy of God showed unto them: displeased at that, on account of which there is joy in heaven among the divine Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, and among the holy angels, even over one repenting sinner; and much more over many thousands, as in this case: displeased at that which is the grudge, the envy, and spite of devils, and which they do all they can to hinder: and the more strange it is that Jonah should act such a part at this time, when he himself had just received mercy of the Lord in so extraordinary a manner as to be delivered out of the fish's belly, even out of the belly of hell; which one would think would have warmed his heart with love, not only to God, but to the souls of men, and caused him to have rejoiced that others were sharers with him in the same grace and mercy, reasons of this strange conduct, if they may be called reasons, are supposed to be these: one reason was, his own honour, which he thought lay at stake, and that he should be reckoned a false prophet if Nineveh was not destroyed at the time he had fixed; but the proviso implied, though not expressed,
"except ye repent,''
secured his character; which was the sense of the divine Being, and so the Ninevites understood it, or at least hoped this was the case, and therefore repented, and which the mercy shown them confirmed: nor had Jonah any reason to fear they would have reproached him with such an imputation to his character; but, on the contrary, would have caressed him as the most welcome person that ever came to their city, and had been the instrument of showing them their sin and danger, and of bringing them to repentance, and so of saving them from threatened ruin; and they did him honour by believing at once what he said, and by repenting at his preaching; and which is testified by Christ, and stands recorded to his honour, and will be transmitted to the latest posterity: another reason was his prejudice to the Gentiles, which was unreasonable for, though this was the foible of the Jewish nation, begrudging that any favours should be bestowed upon the Gentiles, or prophesied of them; see Ro 10:19; yet a prophet should have divested himself of such prejudices, as Isaiah and others did; and, especially when he found his ministry was so blessed among them, he should have been silent, and glorified God for his mercy, and said, as the converted Jews did in Peter's time, "then God hath granted unto the Gentiles repentance unto life", Ac 11:18; to do otherwise, and as Jonah did, was to act like the unbelieving Jews, who "forbid" the apostles to "preach to the Gentiles, that they might be saved", 1Th 2:16. A third reason supposed is the honour of his own countrymen, which he thought would be reflected on, and might issue in their ruin, they not returning from their evil ways, when the Heathens did: a poor weak reason this! with what advantage might he have returned to his own country? with what force of argument might he have accosted them, and upbraided them with their impenitence and unbelief; that Gentiles at one sermon should repent in sackcloth and ashes, when they had the prophets one after another sent them, and without effect? and who knows what might have been the issue of this? lastly, the glory of God might be pretended; that he would be reckoned a liar, and his word a falsehood, and be derided as such by atheists and unbelievers; but here was no danger of this from these penitent ones; and, besides, the proviso before mentioned secured the truth and veracity of God; and who was honoured by these persons, by their immediate faith in him, and repentance towards him; and his grace and mercy were as much glorified in the salvation of them as his justice would have been in their destruction.
Jonah 4:2
Ver. 2. And he prayed unto the Lord,.... But in a very different manner from his praying in the fish's belly: this was a very disorderly prayer, put up in the hurry of his spirit, and in the heat of passion: prayer should be fervent indeed, but not like that of a man in a fever; there should be a warmth and ardour of affection in it, but it should be without wrath, as well as without doubting: this is called a prayer, because Jonah thought it to be so, and put it up to the Lord as one. It begins in the form of a prayer; and it ends with a petition, though an unlawful one; and has nothing of true and right prayer in it; no celebration of the divine Being, and his perfections; no confession of sin, ore petition for any blessing of providence or grace; but mere wrangling, contending, and quarrelling with God:
and said, I pray thee, O Lord, [was] not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? in Judea, or in Galilee, at Gathhepher; was not this what I thought and said within myself, and to thee, that this would be the issue and consequence of going to the Ninevites; they would repent of their sins, and thou wouldst forgive them; and so thou wouldst be reckoned a liar, and I a false prophet? and now things are come to pass just as I thought and said they would: and thus he suggests that he had a greater or better foresight of things than God himself; and that it would have been better if his saying had been attended unto, and not the order of him to Nineveh; how audacious and insolent was this!
therefore I fled before unto Tarshish; before he could have a second order to : here he justifies his flight to Tarshish, as if he had good reason for it; and that it would have been better if he had not been stopped in his flight, and had gone to Tarshish, and not have gone to . This is amazing, after such severe corrections for his flight, and after such success at Nineveh:
for I know that thou [art] a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger,
and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil; this he knew from his own experience, for which he had reason to be thankful, and from the proclamation of God, in Ex 34:6; which be seems to have respect unto; and a glorious one it is, though Jonah seems to twit and upbraid the Lord with his grace and mercy to men, as if it was a weakness and infirmity in him, whereas it is his highest glory,
Ex 33:18; he seems to speak of him, and represent him, as if he was all mercy, and nothing else; which is a wrong representation of him; for he is righteous as well as merciful; and in the same place where he proclaims himself to be so, he declares that he will "by no means clear the guilty", Ex 34:7: but here we see that good men, and prophets, and ministers of the word, are men of like passions with others, and some of greater passions; and here we have an instance of the prevailing corruptions of good men, and how they break out again, even after they have been scourged for them; for afflictions, though they are corrections for sin, and do restrain it, and humble for it, and both purge and prevent it, yet do not wholly remove it.
Jonah 4:3
Ver. 3. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me,.... Or, "my soul" {x}. This, as Drusius remarks, may be observed against those that think the soul is not immortal; for by this it appears that it my be taken from the body, and that it exists separate from it, and does not die with it; and since the body dies upon its removal, for "the body without the spirit is dead", as James says; death is expressed by this phrase, Job 27:8; here Jonah allows that God is the God of life, the author and giver of it, and is the sole disposer of it; it is in his own power to take it away, and not man's: so far Jonah was right, that he did not in his passion attempt to take away his own life; only desires the Lord to do it, though in that he is not to be justified; for though it may be lawful for good men to desire to die, with submission to the will of God; that they might be free from sin, and serve him without it, and be with Christ, and in the enjoyment of the divine Presence, as the Apostle Paul and others did, 2Co 5:6; but not through discontent, as Elijah, 1Ki 19:4; or merely to be rid of troubles, and to be free from pain and afflictions, as Job, Job 6:1; and much less in a pet and passion, as Jonah here, giving this reason for it,
for [it is] better for me to die than to live; not being able to bear the reproach of being a false prophet, which he imagined would be cast upon him; or, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi, that he might not see the evil come upon Israel, which he feared the repentance of the Ninevites would be the occasion of, Jonah was in a very poor frame of spirit to die in; this would not have been dying in faith and hope in God; which graces cannot be thought to be in lively exercise in him when he was quarrelling with God; neither in love to God, with whom he was angry; nor in love to men, at whose repentance, and finding mercy with the Lord, he was displeased.
{x} yvpn ta "animam meam", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellins, Piscator, Drusius, Cocceius.
Jonah 4:4
Ver. 4. Then said the Lord, dost thou well to be angry?] A mild and gentle reproof this; which shows him to be a God gracious and merciful, and slow to anger; he might have answered Jonah's passionate wish, and struck him dead at once, as Ananias and Sapphira were; but he only puts this question, and leaves it with him to consider of. Some render it, "is doing good displeasing to thee?" {y} art thou angry at that, because I do good to whom I will? so R. Japhet, as Aben Ezra observes, though he disapproves of it: according to this the sense is, is doing good to the Ninevites, showing mercy to them upon their repentance, such an eyesore to thee? is thine eye evil, because mine is good? so the Scribes and Pharisees indeed were displeased with Christ for conversing with publicans and sinners, which was for the good of their souls; and the elder brother was angry with his father for receiving the prodigal; and of the same cast Jonah seems to be, at least at this time, being under the power of his corruptions. There seems to be an emphasis upon the word "thou"; dost "thou" well to be angry? what, "thou", a creature, be angry with his Creator; a worm, a potsherd of the earth, with the God of heaven and earth? what, "thou", that hast received mercy thyself in such an extraordinary manner, and so lately, and be angry at mercy shown to others? what, "thou", a prophet of the Lord, that should have at heart the good of immortal souls, and be displeased that thy ministry has been the means of the conversion and repentance of so many thousands? is there any just cause for all this anger? no, it is a causeless one; and this is put to the conscience of Jonah; he himself is made judge in his own cause; and it looks as if, upon self-reflection and reconsideration, when his passions cooled and subsided, that he was self-convicted and self-condemned, since no answer is returned. The Targum is,
"art thou exceeding angry?''
and so other interpreters, Jewish and Christian {z}, understand it of the vehemency of his anger.
{y} Kl hrx bjyhh "num benefacere ira est tibi?" Montanus. {z} "Nonne vehemens ira est tibi?" Pagninus; "numquid vehementer indignaris, multumne (valdene) iratus est?" Vatablus; so Kimchi and R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 47. 2.
Jonah 4:5
Ver. 5. So Jonah went out of the city,.... Had not the inhabitants of it repented, he had done right to go out of it, and shake the dust of his feet against it; or, in such a case, had he gone out of it, as Lot out of Sodom, when just going to be overthrown; but Jonah went out in a sullen fit, because it was to be spared; though some render the words, "now Jonah had gone out of the city" {a}; that is, before all this passed, recorded in the preceding verses; and so Aben Ezra observes, that the Scripture returns here to make mention of the affairs of Jonah, and what happened before the accomplishment of the forty days:
and sat on the east side of the city; where he might have very probably a good sight of it; and which lay the reverse of the road to his own country; that, if the inhabitants should pursue him, they would miss of him; which some suppose he might be in fear of, should their city be destroyed:
and there made him a booth; of the boughs of trees, which he erected, not to continue in, but for a short time, expecting in a few days the issue of his prediction:
and sat under it in the shadow; to shelter him from the heat of the sun:
till he might see what would become of the city; or, "what would be done in" it, or "with" it {b}; if this was after he knew that the Lord had repented of the evil he threatened, and was disposed to show mercy to the city; and which, as Kimchi thinks, was revealed to him by the spirit of prophecy; then he sat here, expecting the repentance of the Ninevites would be a short lived one; be like the goodness of Ephraim and Judah, as the morning cloud, and early dew that passes away; and that then God would change his dispensations towards them again, as he had done; or however he might expect, that though the city was not totally overthrown, yet that there would be something done; some lesser judgment fall upon them, as a token of the divine displeasure, and which might save his credit as a prophet
{a} auyw "exicrat autem", Mercerus; "exivit", Cocceius. {b} ryeb hyhy hm "quid esset futurum in civitate", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Tarnovius; "quid fieret in ea urbe", Vatablus.
Jonah 4:6
Ver. 6. And the Lord God prepared a gourd,.... So the Septuagint render the word; but some say that a worm will not touch that; Jerom renders it an ivy; but neither the gourd nor that rise upwards without some props to support them. The Hebrew word is "kikaion", the same with the "kiki", or "cici", of Herodotus {c}, Dioscorides {d}, Strabo {e}, and Pliny {f}; a plant frequent in Egypt, of which the Egyptians made an oil; hence the Talmudists {g} make mention of the oil of "kik", which Reshlakish says is the "kikaion" of Jonah; and which is the same that the Arabians call "alcheroa" or "alcherva", according to Samuel ben Hophni {h}, Maimonides {i}, Bartenora {k}, and Jerom {l}; and which is well known to be the "ricinus", or "palma Christi"; and which, by the description of it, according to all the above writers, bids fairest {m} to be here intended; it rising up to the height of a tree, an olive tree, having very large broad leaves, like those of vines, or of plantain; and springing up suddenly, as Pliny says it does in Spain; and Clusius affirms he saw at the straits of Gibraltar a ricinus of the thickness of a man, and of the height of three men; and Bellonius, who travelled through Syria and Palestine, saw one in Crete of the size of a tree; and Dietericus {n}, who relates the above, says he saw himself, in a garden at Leyden, well furnished and enriched with exotic plants, an American ricinus, the stalk of which was hollow, weak, and soft, and the leaves almost a foot and a half; and which Adolphus Vorstius, he adds, took to be the same which Jonah had for a shade; with which agrees what Dioscorides {o} says, that there is a sort of it which grows large like a tree, and as high as a fig tree; the leaves of it are like those of a palm tree, though broader, smoother, and blacker; the branches and trunk of it are hollow like a reed: and what may seem more to confirm this is, that a certain number of grains of the seed of the ricinus very much provoke vomiting; which, if true, as Marinus {p} observes, the word here used may be derived from awq, which signifies to vomit; from whence is the word ayq, vomiting; and the first radical being here doubled may increase the signification, and show it to be a great emetic; and the like virtue of the ricinus is observed by others {q}. Jerom allegorizes it of the ceremonial law, under the shadow of which Israel dwelt for a while; and then was abrogated by Christ, who says he was a worm, and no man: but it is better to apply it to outward mercies and earthly enjoyments, which like this plant spring out of the earth, and have their root in it, and are of the nature of it, and therefore minded by earthly and carnal men above all others; they are thin, slight, and slender things; there is no solidity and substance in them, like the kiki, whose stalk is hollow as a reed, as Dioscorides says; they are light and empty things, vanity and vexation of spirit; spring up suddenly sometimes, and are gone as soon; some men come to riches and honour at once, and rise up to a very great pitch of both, and quickly fall into poverty and disgrace again; for these are very uncertain perishing things, like this herb or plant, or even as grass, which soon withers away. They are indeed of God, who is the Father of mercies, and are the gifts of his providence, and not the merit of men; they are disposed of according to his will, and "prepared" by him in his purposes, and given forth according to them, and in his covenant to his own special people, and are to them blessings indeed:
and made [it] to come up over Jonah; over his head, as follows; and it may be over the booth he had built, which was become in a manner useless; the leaves of the boughs of which it was made being withered with the heat of the sun; it came over him so as to cover him all over; which may denote both the necessity of outward mercies, as food and raiment, which the Lord knows his people have need of; and the sufficiency of them he grants, with which they should be content:
that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief; either from the vexation of mind at the repentance of the Ninevites, and the mercy shown them; this being a refreshment unto him, and which he might take as a new token of the Lord's favourable regard to him, after the offence he had given him, and gentle reproof for it; or from the headache, with which he was thought to have been afflicted, through his vexation; or by the heat of the sun; or rather it was to shelter him from the heat of the sun, and the distress that gave him: so outward mercies, like a reviving and refreshing shadow, exhilarate the spirits, and are a defence against the injuries and insults of men, and a preservative from the grief and distress which poverty brings with it:
so Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd; or, "rejoiced with a great joy" {r}; he was excessively and above measure glad of it, because of its usefulness to him: outward mercies are what we should be thankful for; and it is good for men to rejoice in their labours, and enjoy the good of them; to eat their bread with a merry heart and cheerfulness; but should not be elevated with them beyond measure, lifted up with pride, and boast and glory of them, and rejoice in such boastings, which is evil; or rejoice in them as their portion, placing their happiness therein, which is to rejoice in a thing of naught; or to overrate mercies, and show more affection for them than for God himself, the giver of them, who only should be our "exceeding joy"; and, when this is the case, it is much if they are not quickly taken away, as Jonah's gourd was, as follows:
{c} Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 94. {d} L. 4. c. 164. {e} Geograph. l. 17. p. 566. {f} Nat. Hist. l. 15. c. 7. {g} Misa. Sabbat, c. 2. sect. 1. T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 21. 2. {h} In Kimchi in loc. {i} In Misna Sabbat, c. 2. sect. 1. {k} In ib. {l} In loc. {m} Vid. Weidlingt. Dissert. de Kikaion, apud Thesaur. Theolog. Phil. Dissert. vol. 1. p. 989. & Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2. c. 24. p. 293, 294. & l. 4. c. 27. p. 623. & Geograph. par. 1. col. 918, 919. & Liveleum in loc. {n} Antiqu. Bibl. par. 1. p. 82. {o} Apud Calmet's Dictionary, in the word "Kikaion". {p} Arca Noae, tom. 2. fol. 135. {q} Hillerus in Hierophytico, par. 1. p. 453. apud Burkium in loc. {r} hlwdg hxmv-xmvyw "et laetatus est----magna laetitia", Pagninus, Montanus; "et laetabaturque laetitia magna", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "gavisus est gaudio magno", Burkius,
Jonah 4:7
Ver. 7. But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day,.... That God that prepared this plant to rise so suddenly, almost as soon prepared a worm to destroy it; for it rose up one night, continued one whole day, to the great delight of Jonah; and by the morning of the following day this worm or grub was prepared in, it, or sent to it, to the root of it: this shows that God is the Creator of the least as well as the largest of creatures, of worms as well as whales, contrary to the notion of Valentinus, Marcion, and Apelles; who, as Jerom {s} says, introduce another creator of ants, worms, fleas, locusts, &c. and another of the heavens, earth, sea, and angels: but it is much that. Arnobius {t}, an orthodox ancient Christian father, should deny such creatures to be the work of God, and profess his ignorance of the Maker of them. His words are,
"should we deny flies, beetles, worms, mice, weasels, and moths, to be the work of the King Omnipotent, it does not follow that it should be required of us to say who made and formed them; for we may without blame be ignorant who gave them their original;''
whereas, in the miracle of the lice, the magicians of Egypt themselves owned that the finger of God was there, and were out of their power to effect; and to the Prophet Amos the great God was represented in a vision as making locusts or grasshoppers, Am 7:1; and indeed the smallest insect or reptile is a display of the wisdom and power of God, and not at all below his dignity and greatness to produce; and for which there are wise reasons in nature and providence, as here for the production of this worm: the same God that prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and a gourd to shadow him, and an east wind to blow upon him, prepared this worm to destroy his shade, and try his patience:
and it smote the gourd, that it withered; it bit its root, and its moisture dried up, and it withered away at once, and became useless: that same hand that gives mercies can take them away, and that very suddenly, in a trice, in a few hours, as in the case of Job; and sometimes very secretly and invisibly, that men are not aware of; their substance wastes, and they fall to decay, and they can scarcely tell the reason of it; there is a worm at the root of their enjoyments, which kills them; God is as a moth and rottenness unto them; and he does this sometimes by small means, by little instruments, as he plagued Pharaoh and the Egyptians with lice and flies.
{s} Prooem. in Philemon. ad Paulam & Eustochium. {t} Adv. Gentes, l. 2. p. 95.
Jonah 4:8
Ver. 8. And it came to pass when the sun did arise,.... After that the gourd was smitten and withered; when it was not only risen, but shone out with great force and heat:
that God prepared a vehement east wind; or, "a deafening east wind" {u}; which blew so strong, and so loud, as R. Marinus in Aben Ezra and Kimchi say, made people deaf that heard it: or, "a silencing east wind"; which when it blew, all other winds were silent, as Jarchi: or it made men silent, not being to be heard for it: or, "a silent" {w}, that is, a still quiet wind, as the Targum; which blew so gently and slowly, that it increased the heat, instead of lessening it: or rather "a ploughing east wind" {x}; such as are frequent {y} in the eastern countries, which plough up the dry land, cause the sand to arise and cover men and camels, and bury them in it. Of these winds Monsieur Thevenot {z} speaks more than once; in sandy deserts, between Cairo and Suez, he says,
"it blew so furiously, that I thought all the tents would have been carried away with the wind; which drove before it such clouds of sand, that we were almost buried under it; for seeing nobody could stay outside, without having mouth and eyes immediately filled with sand, we lay under the tents, where the wind drove in the sand above a foot deep round about us;''
and in another place he observes {a}
"from Suez to Cairo, for a day's time or more, we had so hot a wind, that we were forced to turn our backs to it, to take a little breath, and so soon as we opened our mouths they were full of sand;''
such an one was here raised, which blew the sand and dust into the face of Jonah, and almost suffocated him; which, with the heat of the sun, was very afflictive to him:
and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted; the boughs of trees, of which the booth was made, being withered, and his gourd, or whatever plant it was, also, he had nothing to shelter him from the heat of the sun; but the beams of it darted directly upon him, so that he was not able to sustain them; they quite overwhelmed him, and caused him to faint, and just ready to die away:
and wished in himself to die; or, "desired his soul might die" {b}; not his rational soul, which was immortal; by this animal or sensitive soul, which he had in common with animals; he wished his animal life might be taken from him, because the distress through the wind and sun was intolerable to him:
and said, [it is] better for me to die than to live; in so much pain and misery; see Jon 4:3.
{u} tyvyrx "surdefacientem", ; "ex surdentem", Montanus; "surdum", Drusius. {w} "Silentem", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Mercerus, Grotius, Tarnovius; so Stockius, p. 397. and Burkius. {x} "Aratorium", Hyde. {y} Via. Petitsol. Itinera Mundi, p. 146. & Hyde, Not. in ib. {z} Travels, par. 1. B. 2. p. 162. {a} Travels, par. 1. B. 2. ch. 34. p. 177. {b} wvpn ta "animae suae", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius; "animam suam", Burkius.
Jonah 4:9
Ver. 9. And God said to Jonah, dost thou well to be angry for the gourd?.... Or, "art thou very angry for it?" as the Targum: no mention is made of the blustering wind and scorching sun, because the gourd or plant raised up over him would have protected him from the injuries of both, had it continued; and it was for the loss of that that Jonah was so displeased, and in such a passion. This question is put in order to draw out the following answer, and so give an opportunity of improving this affair to the end for which it was designed:
and he said, I do well to be angry, [even] unto death; or, "I am very angry unto death", as the Targum; I am so very angry that I cannot live under it for fretting and vexing; and it is right for me to be so, though I die with the passion of it: how ungovernable are the passions of men, and to what insolence do they rise when under the power of them!
Jonah 4:10
Ver. 10. Then said the Lord, thou hast had pity on the gourd,.... Or, "hast spared it" {c}; that is, would have spared it, had it lain in his power, though but a weeds and worthless thing:
for the which thou hast not laboured; in digging the ground, and by sowing or planting it; it being raised up at once by the Lord himself, and not by any, human art and industry; nor by any of his:
neither madest it grow; by dunging the earth about it, or by watering and pruning it:
which came up in a night, and perished in a night; not in the same night; for it sprung up one night, continued a whole any, and then perished the next night. The Targum is more explicit,
"which was in this (or one) night, and perished in another night;''
by all which the Lord suggests to Jonah the vast difference between the gourd he would have spared, and for the loss of which he was so angry, and the city of Nineveh the Lord spared, which so highly displeased him; the one was but an herb, a plant, the other a great city; that a single plant, but the city consisted of thousands of persons; the plant was not the effect of his toil and labour, but the inhabitants of this city were the works of God's hands. In the building of this city, according to historians {d} a million and a half of men were employed eight years together; the plant was liken mushroom, it sprung up in a night, and perished in one; whereas this was a very ancient city, that had stood ever since the days of Nimrod.
{c} tox "pepercisiti", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Burkius; "pepercisses", Piscator. {d} Eustathius in Dionys. Perieg. p. 125.
Jonah 4:11
Ver. 11. And should not I spare , that great city?.... See Jon 1:2; what is such a gourd or plant to that?
wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons; or twelve myriads; that is, twelve times ten thousand, or a hundred and twenty thousand; meaning not all the inhabitants of Nineveh; for then it would not have appeared to be so great a city; but infants only, as next described:
that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; do not know one from another; cannot distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong; are not come to years of maturity and discretion; and therefore there were room and reason for pity and sparing mercy; especially since they had not been guilty of actual transgressions, at least not very manifest; and yet must have perished with their parents had Nineveh been overthrown. The number of infants in this city is a proof of the greatness of it, though not so as to render the account incredible; for, admitting these to be a fifth part of its inhabitants, as they usually are of any place, as Bochart {e} observes, it makes the number of its inhabitants to be but six or seven hundred thousand; and as many there were in Seleucia and Thebes, as Pliny {f} relates of the one, and Tacitus {g} of the other:
and [also] much cattle; and these more valuable than goods, as animals are preferable to, and more useful than, vegetables; and yet these must have perished in the common calamity. Jarchi understands by these grown up persons, whose knowledge is like the beasts that know not their Creator. No answer being returned, it may be reasonably supposed Jonah, was convinced of his sin and folly; and, to show his repentance for it, penned this, narrative, which records his infirmities and weaknesses, for the good of the church, and the instruction of saints in succeeding ages.
{e} Phaleg. l. 4. c. 20. p. 253. {f} Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 26. {g} Annal. l. 2. c. 60.
<ALIGN="CENTER"John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
What all the saints make matter of joy and praise,
Jonah makes the subject of reflection upon God; as if showing
mercy were an imperfection of the Divine nature, which is the
greatest glory of it. It is to his sparing, pardoning mercy, we all owe
it that we are out of hell. He wishes for death: this was the language
of folly, passion, and strong corruption. There appeared in Jonah
remains of a proud, uncharitable spirit; and that he neither expected
nor desired the welfare of the Ninevites, but had only come to
declare and witness their destruction. He was not duly humbled for
his own sins, and was not willing to trust the Lord with his credit and
safety. In this frame of mind, he overlooked the good of which he
had been an instrument, and the glory of the Divine mercy. We
should often ask ourselves, Is it well to say thus, to do thus? Can |
justify it? Do | well to be so soon angry, so often angry, so long
angry, and to give others ill language in my anger? Do | well to be
angry at the mercy of God to repenting sinners? That was Jonah's
crime. Do we do well to be angry at that which is for the glory of
God, and the advancement of his kingdom? Let the conversion of
sinners, which is the joy of heaven, be our joy, and never our
grief.
What all the saints make matter of joy and praise,
Jonah makes the subject of reflection upon God; as if showing
mercy were an imperfection of the Divine nature, which is the
greatest glory of it. It is to his sparing, pardoning mercy, we all owe
it that we are out of hell.
Do we do well to be angry at that which is for the glory of
God, and the advancement of his kingdom? Let the conversion of
sinners, which is the joy of heaven, be our joy, and never our
grief.
Sources: Matthew Henry; Gill's Exposition; Matthew Henry Concise
Commentary
Commentary